Did you know that ballet shoes and tights were originally designed to look as if the dancer had bare legs and feet?
In theory, this helped to create the illusion of longer legs and aesthetically pleasing classical lines, but it was completely impractical. We all know that people do not come in one standard colour, and so dancewear manufacturers have begun to tackle this imbalance. They have started to produce socks, tights and ballet shoes for darker skin tones, increasing the inclusivity of their ranges.
At Dancewear Central, we want everyone – from aspiring dancers to professional ballerinas – to have access to a full range of dancewear in inclusive colours.
We spoke with dance teacher Johanna Hadley at the Janet Lomas School of Dancing about the ways in which they are fostering inclusivity at the school.
“I teach in a diverse school, and as soon as it was announced that dancewear manufacturers were creating dancewear specifically to suit different skin tones, we knew that this was something we wished to implement in our school.
“But when we began to give our students a wider range of uniform to choose from, a problem arose. I would normally give each new student a list detailing our school uniform and where it could be bought from. Parents were able to purchase all of the uniform in one, or at most two, online orders. For students who are black or with a Mixed ethnic background however, it would have potentially meant having to shop at three different online stores just to get their basic dance school uniform. This went entirely against the equality we are striving for in our school."
Dancewear Central has sought to tackle this by expanding our range, meaning that we offer dancewear from different brands to suit a wide range of skin tones.
You can now purchase the following items to suit black and mixed ethnic background skin tones (and our range is always expanding):
- Freed leather ballet shoes
- Freed satin ballet shoes
- Freed ballet socks
- Freed convertible ballet tights
- Bloch canvas ballet shoes
- Bloch footed ballet tights
- Capezio transition tights
- The Pointe People pointe shoe paint
- Cynthia King vegan ballet shoes
Dance exam boards including the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and the International Dance Teachers’ Association (IDTA) are actively encouraging a more inclusive approach to dancewear and have updated their uniform requirements for all exams. These changes allow students to wear ballet tights and shoes that match their skin tone for all examinations.
Johanna adds, “Thanks to Dancewear Central, we’ve been able to update our school uniform and give parents and students more choice. They can order tights, shoes and socks in lots of different options and brands. Importantly, they can now do this from one online retailer."